Of Course Netflix Babysitting Spiked During Sandy

Least surprising Sandy story so far: People who were stuck inside waiting for the storm yesterday watched a ton of Netflix, says Netflix.

The streaming video service says viewership was up 20 percent nationwide yesterday. But for those of us in Sandyland, like New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., viewership was much higher — up more than 100 percent above a standard Monday.

Also unsurprising to anyone with a kid: A ton of that viewing came from Netflix’s store of kid stuff.

Expect more of the same over the next couple days. In New York City, for instance, schools will be closed at least through Wednesday, and that is a looooooong time to keep little people occupied without the help of video narcotics.

On the other hand, think of how much more viewing time Netflix would capture if the company did what I’m told it discusses quite a bit internally: Add on a video-on-demand component so people who can’t find what they want in the service’s streaming library can buy or rent other movies and TV shows.

At AllThingsD’s Brooklyn outpost, for instance, we dropped $25 on iTunes yesterday (“Happy Feet” and “The Lion King”), and I have a hunch we’re going to spend more before the city dries out. Some of that money could be yours, Reed Hastings …

Just as the atom bomb was the weapon that was supposed to render war obsolete, the Internet seems like capitalism’s ultimate feat of self-destructive genius, an economic doomsday device rendering it impossible for anyone to ever make a profit off anything again. It’s especially hopeless for those whose work is easily digitized and accessed free of charge.

— Author Tim Kreider on not getting paid for one’s work

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